tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post6056468380407458793..comments2024-03-18T16:01:13.871-07:00Comments on Haq's Musings: India's Sane Voice Warns Against SmugnessRiaz Haqhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-29224113187238259392016-05-29T16:25:16.408-07:002016-05-29T16:25:16.408-07:00Vrinda Grover: Ishrat Jahan abducted, illegally de...Vrinda Grover: Ishrat Jahan abducted, illegally detained, murdered by #Gujarat police in #India. Janta Ka Reporter<br /><br />http://www.jantakareporter.com/blog/ishrat-jahan-abducted-illegally-detained-murdered-gujarat-police-writes-vrinda-grover/46949<br /><br /><br />Kiran Rjiju – Minister of State for Home, the latest to join the Modi govt. factory of lies and distortions in the Ishrat Jahan murder case.<br /><br />Kiran Rjiju, who are you working in tandem with? Not the Indian Constitution for sure.<br /><br />Also Read| What David Headley said on Ishrat Jahan is double hearsay, has no legal significance<br /><br />On 27th May 2016, speaking to India Today TV channel Kiran Rjiju, Minister of State for Home said that Ishrat Jahan was an LeT aide.<br /><br />How does this minister in the ministry of home affairs know this?<br /><br />No, not from any files or documents that he may have access to. But the LeT website, that in 2004 called her a martyr. But the same organisation in 2007 retracted and apologised and said Ishrat was not part of LeT. Why does the Mos Home not believe LeT now?<br /><br />Rjiju said that the police officer who investigated the Ishrat encounter killing was at the time of the retraction by LeT (2007) sent on Central deputation to CBI.<br /><br />The CBI in 2013 held it to be a fake encounter – a cold blooded murder carried out in conspiracy with Gujarat police officers and IB men.<br /><br />Thus the charge -Breaking News- on India Today by Gaurav Sawant, where Kiran Rjiju says “UPA was working in tandem with LeT.”!!!<br /><br />Gaurav Sawant is so excited that he has got this quote that he does not bother to cross check any dates or facts. He of course repeatedly says Kiran Rjiju as MoS has access to files which we don’t .Really?? Is that how Rjiju came to this explosive finding.<br /><br />Few facts and dates.<br /><br />In November 2011 the SIT appointed by Division Bench of Gujarat High Court, of which Satish Verma was a part, concluded that it was a fake encounter. Gujarat High Court in its order of December 2011 asked for investigation to be handed over and eventually it was handed over to the CBI in 2012.<br /><br />Satish Verma was and is an IPS officer of Gujarat cadre. He was never sent on central deputation. Satish Verma assisted the CBI investigation on the directions of the Gujarat High Court.<br />The investigation was carried out by the CBI and charge-sheet filed against 11 Gujarat police officers in July 2013 and four IB men in February 2014.<br /><br />A humble appeal to MoS Rjiju, please read Indian documents, Gujarat High Court judgments and the CBI chargesheet.<br /><br />Please have faith in the Indian courts. Please count correctly.<br /><br />Between 2007 and 2012 there is a gap of 5 years. You are lying and distorting facts and abusing your office. You still have nothing , I repeat nothing to show that Ishrat Jahan was a LeT terrorist.<br /><br />The facts and evidence still hold that Ishrat Jahan was abducted, illegally detained and murdered by Gujarat police. Rana Ayyub’s sting reaffirms this truth.<br /><br />Gaurav Sawant -India Today – Put the true facts out now and confront Kiran Rjiju.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-54903051331922452512012-01-11T19:59:21.303-08:002012-01-11T19:59:21.303-08:00Here's an Op Ed by Indian diplomat and parliam...Here's an <a rel="nofollow">Op Ed by Indian diplomat</a> and parliamentarian Sashi Tharoor on his recent visit to Pakistan:<br /><br /><i>I write these words in Lahore, in the midst of a brief but hugely interesting visit to Pakistan. As one who has always advocated hard-headed realism in dealing with our neighbour, while greatly respecting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s vision that the highest strategic interest of both countries lies in development and the eradication of poverty rather than in military one-upmanship, I have begun to think of how much we could both gain if we replaced our current narrative of hostility with one of hope.<br />What is the way forward for India? It is clear that we want peace more than Pakistan does, because we have more at stake when peace is violated: we cannot grow and prosper without peace, and that is the one thing Pakistan can give us that we cannot do without.<br />By denying us the peace we crave, Pakistan can undermine our vital national interests, above all that of our own development. Investors shun war zones; traders are wary of markets that might explode at any time; tourists do not travel to hotels that might be commandeered by fanatical terrorists. These are all serious hazards for a country seeking to grow and flourish in a globalising world economy.<br />Even if Pakistan cannot do us much good, it can do us immense harm, and we must recognise this in formulating our policy approaches to it. Foreign policy cannot be built on a sense of betrayal any more than it can be on illusions of love. Pragmatism dictates that we work for peace with Pakistan precisely so that we can serve our own people’s needs better.<br />So we must engage Pakistan because we cannot afford not to. And yet — the problem of terrorism incubated in Pakistan will not be solved overnight. Extremism is not a tap that can be turned off once it is open; the evil genie cannot be forced back into the bottle. The proliferation of militant organisations, training camps and extremist ideologies has acquired a momentum of its own. A population as young, as uneducated, as unemployed and as radicalised as Pakistan’s will remain a menace to their own society as well as to ours.<br />-----<br />Let us show a magnanimity and generosity of spirit that in itself stands an outside chance of persuading Pakistanis to rethink their attitude to us.<br />The big questions — the Kashmir dispute and Pakistan’s use of terrorism as an instrument of policy — will require a great deal more groundwork and constructive, step-by-step action for progress to be made. But by showing accommodativeness, sensitivity and pragmatic generosity, India might be able to turn the bilateral narrative away from the logic of intractable hostility in which both countries have been mired for too long.<br />The joker in the pack remains the Pakistani Army. Until the military men are convinced that peace with India is in their self-interest, they will remain the biggest obstacles to it. One hope may lie in the extensive reach of the Pakistani military apparatus and its multiple business and commercial interests.<br />Perhaps India could encourage its firms to trade with enterprises owned by the Pakistani Army, in the hope of giving the military establishment a direct stake in peace.<br />The world economic crisis should give us an opportunity to promote economic integration with our neighbours in the subcontinent who look to the growing Indian market to sell their goods and maintain their own growth. But as long as South Asia remains divided by futile rivalries and some continue to believe that terrorism can be a useful instrument of their strategic doctrines, that is bound to remain a distant prospect. If India and Pakistan can embrace an interrelated future on our subcontinent, geography can become an instrument of opportunity in a mutual growth story and history can bind rather than divide. It is a future worth striving for, in the interests of both our peoples.</i><br /><br />http://www.asianage.com/columnists/geography-hope-787Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-40797138181430997932011-11-10T18:01:58.145-08:002011-11-10T18:01:58.145-08:00Here's an Express Tribune report on Seeds of P...Here's an <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/289754/seeds-of-peace-fc-college-to-host-mock-afghan-parliament/" rel="nofollow">Express Tribune</a> report on Seeds of Peace in Pakistan:<br /><br /><i>Seeds of Peace, an international youth based organisation established in 1993, aims to empower young individuals from conflict areas to help bridge differences. Aiming to create a better understanding amongst the youth to work towards ‘co-existence’ and ‘reconciliation’, the organisation was the brainchild of American journalist John Wallach. The first such programme involved about 50 young participants from the Arab-Israel conflict zone who were invited to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine, USA.<br /><br />Fahad Ali Kazmi, the joint secretary of Seeds of Peace-Pakistan, said the basic aim here is to incorporate the voice of youth in conflict areas. “We started the mock parliament last year to sensitise youth in conflict areas to help appreciate the counter narratives of global issues,” said Kazmi, who ‘graduated’ from an international camp in 2002 and returned to Pakistan as a ‘Pakistani Seed’.<br /><br />Seeds of Peace came to Lahore in 2001, the same year it opened its offices in Mumbai and the next year in Kabul. Every year 10 to 12 young individuals from Pakistan and India are invited to the United States for the 250-day camp where they interact with youth from across the world.<br /><br />Seeds of Peace-Pakistan’s first mock parliament session was held last year, aiming to acquaint the youth in conflict areas of India and Pakistan with a political understanding of issues on both sides. Last year, a mock Indian parliament was held in Pakistan by the Seeds of Peace-Pakistan and a similar event was held in India whereby Indian Seeds engaged in a mock Pakistani parliament. The concept, said Kazmi, is to eradicate prejudice and build bridges to better understand one another.<br /><br />This year, Seeds of Peace-Pakistan will organise a Mock Afghan Parliament, whereby Pakistani youths will be educated about the workings of the Afghan parliament and also assigned roles and positions to take. “With Afghanistan and Pakistan engaged in a political conflict, we thought of engaging Pakistani youth in understanding the Afghan perspective,” Kazmi said.<br /><br />Teams from across Lahore will participate in the event. Between 25 and 30 young people from different schools across Lahore including Beaconhouse School System, Divisional Public School, Lahore Grammar School and Crescent Model High School are participating in the event.<br /><br />A workshop will be conducted by the Seeds of Peace-Pakistan on November 20 to educate the participating youth about the Afghan constitution and the dynamics of the Afghan parliament.<br /><br />“The Pakistani Seeds are working in close collaboration with their Afghan counterparts to understand the political dynamics of the Afghan parliament,” said Kazmi while talking about the workshop which precedes the mock parliament that is to be held later in the month. At the end of the workshop a three-day mock parliamentary session will be convened for which three to four major areas of debate will be identified and a sample Afghan parliament formulated. The three-day mock parliamentary session will end on November 27.</i><br /><br />http://tribune.com.pk/story/289754/seeds-of-peace-fc-college-to-host-mock-afghan-parliament/Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-73273863446102527932011-07-23T17:52:56.071-07:002011-07-23T17:52:56.071-07:00There was an article in Forbes magazine issue of M...There was an article in Forbes magazine issue of March 4, 2002, by Steve Forbes titled <a href="http://www.hvk.org/articles/0304/2.html" rel="nofollow">"India, Meet Austria-Hungary"</a> which compared India with the now defunct Austria-Hungary. Here is an excerpt from the text of that article:<br /><br /><i>Influential elements in India's government and military are still itching to go to war with Pakistan, even though Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has taken considerable political risks by moving against Pakistani-based-and-trained anti-India terrorist groups. Sure, Musharraf made a truculent speech condemning India's ``occupation'' of Kashmir, but that was rhetorical cover for cracking down on those groups. Washington should send New Delhi some history books for these hotheads; there is no human activity more prone to unintended consequences than warfare. As cooler heads in the Indian government well know, history is riddled with examples of parties that initiated hostilities in the belief that conflict would resolutely resolve outstanding issues.<br /><br />Pericles of Athens thought he could deal with rival Sparta once and for all when he triggered the Peloponnesian War; instead his city-state was undermined and Greek civilization devastated.<br /><br />Similarly, Hannibal brilliantly attacked Rome; he ended up not only losing the conflict but also setting off a train of events that ultimately led to the total destruction of Carthage. Prussia smashed France in 1870, annexing critical French territory for security reasons, but that sowed the seeds for the First World War. At the end of World War I the victorious Allies thought they had dealt decisively with German military power. Israel crushed its Arab foes in 1967, but long-term peace did not follow.<br /><br />India is not a homogeneous state. Neither was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It attacked Serbia in the summer of 1914 in the hopes of destroying this irritating state after Serbia had committed a spectacular terrorist act against the Hapsburg monarchy. The empire ended up splintering, and the Hapsburgs lost their throne. And on it goes.<br /><br />Getting back to the present, do Indian war hawks believe China will stand idly by as India tried to reduce Pakistan to vassal-state status? Do they think Arab states and Iran won't fund Muslim guerrilla movements in Pakistan, as well as in India itself? Where does New Delhi think its oil comes from (about 70%, mainly from the Middle East)? Does India think the U.S. will stand by impotently if it starts a war that unleashes nuclear weapons?</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-45175681448252284982011-05-06T17:14:35.799-07:002011-05-06T17:14:35.799-07:00Here's BBC's Soutik Biswas on Indian react...Here's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13306066" rel="nofollow">BBC's Soutik Biswas</a> on Indian reaction to recent events in Pakistan:<br /><br /><i>Sections of the Indian media and some pundits have been gloating about the fact that Osama Bin Laden was eventually found and killed in Pakistan by the US.<br /><br />It is a familiar, triumphal "we-told-you-so" line, reminding the world that Pakistan was a haven for terrorists.<br /><br />Some experts - egged on by a hysterical sabre-rattling media - have even been suggesting that India should also go into Pakistan and take out people like the cleric Hafiz Mohammad Saeed who have been blamed for plotting attacks against India. Foreign affairs guru Fareed Zakaria describes it as the rhetoric of India's strategic elite with its "Cold War fantasies".<br /><br />Not surprisingly, this has evoked a harsh reaction from Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir who warned against such "misadventures" which could lead to a "terrible catastrophe", and headlines in the Indian newspapers as 'Hit by US, Pakistan barks at India'.<br /><br />Much of this reckless talk, of course, has its roots in the grievous losses India has suffered in violence planned and executed by groups across the border, climaxing in the nightmare of the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks. But, as many seasoned experts say, India needs to keep its calm and pursue a more hard-nosed pragmatic policy towards Pakistan.<br /><br />So it is heartening to hear from sources in the Indian government that India believes in a more reasoned and sober approach to Pakistan.<br /><br />India cannot, say the sources, use what they call a "giant swatter" approach to Pakistan, like the US. "Unlike US, we live next door to Pakistan, our ties are deeper, and we were once the same country," they say. Also, nuclear-armed Pakistan is no pushover, and India could burn its fingers badly if it attempted an operation like the one which took out Bin Laden.<br /><br />Will Bin Laden's killing have an impact on India-Pakistan talks, which got off the ground in recent months after a long frozen silence?<br /><br />Not really, say Indian authorities. ....</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-65545496447925641662011-01-12T19:53:55.572-08:002011-01-12T19:53:55.572-08:00Here are excerpts from a Wall Street Journal Op Ed...Here are excerpts from a <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/01/10/india-journal-why-pakistan-needs-india-now/" rel="nofollow">Wall Street Journal</a> Op Ed by Rupa Subramanya Dehejia on potential for India-Pakitan trade:<br /><br /><i>How does India fit into this picture? And can two nuclear-armed rivals with a fraught relationship meaningfully engage in trade and commerce with each other?<br /><br />Trade is one of the engines of growth and development but in the case of Pakistan, this potentially important link with India is virtually missing. At present trade is roughly $2 billion a year.<br /><br />Pakistan accounts for less than 1% of India’s trade and India less than 5% of Pakistan’s trade. Contrast this to the bilateral trade relationship following independence, when 70% of Pakistan’s trade was with India while more than 60% of India’s exports went to Pakistan.<br /><br />According to Mohsin Khan of the Peterson Institute, economists estimate a “normal” trading relationship would be five to 10 times larger than the current amount.<br /><br />There is also an estimated $2 billion to $3 billion a year in trade that takes place unofficially through third countries, especially the United Arab Emirates.<br /><br />If this could be normalized as bilateral trade, it would occur at a much lower cost and therefore greater economic gain.<br /><br />I’d argue that we must at least try to improve our economic relationship even if the political relationship is still frosty. The great exemplar here is the European Union, which was built on the premise that binding neighbors together economically was a prerequisite for ensuring peace and prosperity for all. We in India have yet to fully absorb this lesson. A prosperous Pakistan will not only be good for Pakistanis themselves but also good for us in India.<br /><br />It’s time for the liberal commentators on both sides of the border to stop wringing their hands about the demise of a secular liberal democracy, because Pakistan hasn’t been that for some time, if it ever was.<br /><br />While the support that the Indian intelligentsia has offered their counterparts in Pakistan following the assassination is heart-warming, it’s not consequential in the big picture. Liberals in Pakistan may fight on but it’s time for us in India to accept that Pakistan is an Islamic state with Islamic values and laws.<br /><br />The crux here is that trade and commerce know no religious boundaries. We must work towards building a stronger bilateral relationship on that basis.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-29742973830934199502011-01-12T09:37:34.114-08:002011-01-12T09:37:34.114-08:00Sitting with Hindians its like Pakistan is about t...Sitting with Hindians its like Pakistan is about to be evaporated in thin air and patting each other or by themselves for being the expert sage of million years and vedant shaivite which pakistanis are not will show how deprived they are and there life b/c they are vegie deprived and dont believe in reincarnation .<br /><br /><br />Just watch pakistani T.V. Duniya Ptv Geo Sama Life is 99% usual .Some people dont bother to know if some Salman was killed b/c it never mattered in there life Thse Gov, Foreign Misters And Pakistani Presidents are focus of Hindians . There are two reasons for this <br /><br />1. it is common to look whats outside your home doubting that you got worst deal than the neighbour Thats why you read books on pakistan pakistani and rest of India never heard of <br /><br />2. B/c you coming from less starved family of India having money to come to USA have plenty of free time Instead of going to restaurant and blowing 200$ or malls spending as much or any club with the same value membership Yu choose to sit it out at home with your computer Actually its not bad idea i do the same .You think life stand still b/c some high fi families father is no more .Man on the street are as happy or sad as they were before 4111 as they ever will be.Go read Atish And Meherbanos Oxford English Eulogies and gush with crocodile tears As if those who dont publish in NYT or come onNDTV dont suffer when there father dies and only these people are tragedy prince princessAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-19414085363567482642010-10-27T08:52:47.318-07:002010-10-27T08:52:47.318-07:00Here are some excerpts from a piece by David Pilli...Here are some excerpts from a piece by David Pilling of <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7dab7e96-dc8b-11df-a0b9-00144feabdc0.html" rel="nofollow">Financial Times</a> published recently:<br /><br /><i> (There have ben many a dire warning about Pakistan failing), yet Pakistan has survived. In its partial victories against Islamist militants it may even have made some kind of progress. It is all too easy to think of Pakistan as a failing – even a failed – state. But it might be better to see it as the state that refuses to fail.<br /><br />To appreciate just how remarkable this is, cast your mind back to this dangerous year’s catalogue of fire and brimstone. First, following its victory in Swat, the army turned its attention on South Waziristan, bombarding militants in lawless areas bordering Afghanistan. Many considered that an important step, given the well-documented links between the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and tribal militants, part of Pakistan’s quest for “strategic depth” in Afghanistan.<br /><br />Second, and partly as a result of the army’s offensives, there has been a wave of counter-attacks on hotels, mosques and police stations. Last October, militants mounted a brazen raid on the supposedly impregnable headquarters of the 500,000-strong army. That led to alarm that men with beards and a less-than-glowing feeling towards America were getting perilously close to Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.<br /><br />Third, Pakistan has had to adapt to a dramatic shift in US policy towards Afghanistan. In December, President Barack Obama ordered a surge of 30,000 extra troops, a military intensification that has sent militants scurrying across the border into Pakistan. Worse from Islamabad’s point of view, the US president has committed to drawing down those troops from next summer, a retreat, if it happens, that would once again leave Pakistan alone in a nasty neighbourhood.<br /><br />Fourth, the economic outlook remains precarious. Pakistan just about avoided a balance of payments crisis which, at one point, saw its reserves dwindle to just one month’s import cover. But respite has come at the cost of being in hock to the International Monetary Fund, which has extended some $7bn in loans. With tax receipts at a miserable 9 per cent of output, it is unclear how it will make ends meet.<br /><br />As if these man-made calamities were not enough, Pakistan has been drowning in the worst floods in its history. At one point, no less than one-fifth of the country was under water.....<br /><br />Remarkably it has not been. Why not? A partial explanation for Pakistan’s staying power is that it has become an extortionary state that thrives on crisis...<br /><br />There are more benign explanations too. The strength of civil society has helped. Many refugees from the floods, like those from Swat, have found temporary shelter with the networks of friends and relatives that bind the country together. The army’s response to the floods has also underscored, for better or worse, the efficiency of the state’s best-run institution. Even the civilian administration, weak and discredited as it is, has clung on. If, as now seems plausible, Mr Zardari can survive, power could yet be transferred from one democratically elected administration to another for the first time in Pakistan’s 63-year history.<br /><br />One should not overstate Pakistan’s resilience. The world is rightly alarmed at the mayhem that rages at its centre. But, if you care to look on the bright side, you might conclude that, if Pakistan can survive a year like this, it can survive anything.</i>Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-71776462318792560872010-10-10T17:29:23.280-07:002010-10-10T17:29:23.280-07:00You often hear rhetoric about India-Pakistan frien...You often hear rhetoric about India-Pakistan friendship. But friendship is a two-way street.<br /><br />Musharraf was very serious about making friends with India on his watch from 2000 to 2007. He offered significant concessions and tried very hard to reach an agreement with Delhi on Kashmir, but to no avail.<br /><br />Instead of of responding positively, India stepped its hostility by opening a new front in starting a covert war in Pakistan via Afghanistan.<br /><br />Here is how South Asia expert Stephen Cohen described India's ambivalent attitude toward Pakistan recently:<br /><br />Indians do not know whether they want to play cricket and trade with Pakistan, or whether they want to destroy it. There is still no consensus on talking with Pakistan: sometimes the government and its spokesman claim that they do not want to deal with the generals, but when the generals are out of the limelight, they complain that the civilians are too weak to conclude a deal.<br /><br />In addition to Kashmir, the other key and potentially more explosive issue between India and Pakistan is that Indus water.<br /><br />A South African water expert and Harvard professor John Briscoe recently argued that Pakistan was woefully vulnerable to Indian manipulation of the timing of water flows of the Jhelum and Chenab; that the Indian press—unlike the Pakistani media—never noted the other country’s views on the issue, and was instructed on what to say by the Ministry of External Affairs; and that India lacked the leadership of a regional power, as Brazil had been magnanimous in similar disputes with Bolivia and Paraguay.<br /><br />Here is the exact quote from Briscoe's <a href="http://www.countercurrents.org/briscoe050410.htm" rel="nofollow">piece</a> published in April 2010:<br /><br /><i>Living in Delhi and working in both India and Pakistan, I was struck by a paradox. One country was a vigorous democracy, the other a military regime. But whereas an important part of the Pakistani press regularly reported India's views on the water issue in an objective way, the Indian press never did the same. I never saw a report which gave Indian readers a factual description of the enormous vulnerability of Pakistan, of the way in which India had socked it to Pakistan when filling Baglihar. How could this be, I asked? Because, a journalist colleague in Delhi told me, "when it comes to Kashmir – and the Indus Treaty is considered an integral part of Kashmir -- the ministry of external affairs instructs newspapers on what they can and cannot say, and often tells them explicitly what it is they are to say."</i><br /><br />http://www.countercurrents.org/briscoe050410.htmRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-60397555399288684332010-08-29T13:49:40.029-07:002010-08-29T13:49:40.029-07:00Here's an excerpt from NY Times story about de...Here's an excerpt from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/world/asia/29feudal.html?_r=1&hp" rel="nofollow">NY Times</a> story about declining power of Pakistan's feudal class:<br /><br /><i>For years, feudal lords reigned supreme, serving as the police, the judge and the political leader. Plantations had jails, and political seats were practically owned by families.<br /><br />Instead of midwifing democracy, these aristocrats obstructed it, ignoring the needs of rural Pakistanis, half of whom are still landless and desperately poor more than 60 years after Pakistan became a state.<br /><br />But changes began to erode the aristocrats’ power. Cities sprouted, with jobs in construction and industry. Large-scale farms eclipsed old-fashioned plantations. Vast hereditary lands splintered among generations of sons, and many aristocratic families left the country for cities, living beyond their means off sales of their remaining lands. Mobile labor has also reduced dependence on aristocratic families.<br /><br />In Punjab, the country’s most populous province, and its most economically advanced, the number of national lawmakers from feudal families shrank to 25 percent in 2008 from 42 percent in 1970, according to a count conducted by Mubashir Hassan, a former finance minister, and The New York Times.<br /><br />“Feudals are a dying breed,” said S. Akbar Zaidi, a Karachi-based fellow with the Carnegie Foundation. “They have no power outside the walls of their castles.” </i><br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/world/asia/29feudal.html?_r=1&hpRiaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-46259010128173845492010-01-01T10:07:10.081-08:002010-01-01T10:07:10.081-08:00Here is a interesting report in the News on polls ...Here is a interesting report in <a href="http://thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=26396" rel="nofollow">the News</a> on polls conducted in India and Pakistan on relations between the two nations: <br /><br />By Mohammad Malick<br /><br />ISLAMABAD: The two nations have repeatedly gone to war in the past. Their governments continue sabre rattling and spewing bellicose rhetoric. But identical nationwide opinion surveys conducted by the Jang Group and the Times of India Group in India and Pakistan show that a majority of the billion and a half people of the sub-continent want to live as peaceful and friendly neighbours and share the same humane goals like any other civilised polity; economic prosperity for all, education for the youth, health for the needy, absence of violence and elimination of existential threats.<br /><br />In Pakistan, 72 per cent of the respondents desired “peaceful and friendly relations with India” whereas 60 per cent Indians were hopeful of such an eventuality. This relative lesser percentage may be owing to the fact that presently 88 per cent of Indians consider Pakistan as a high/moderate threat to India’s well being. In contrast, 72 per cent Pakistanis perceive India as a high/moderate threat. The 88 per cent threat perception notwithstanding, it is heartening to note, however, that over 59 per cent of Indians think that a peaceful relationship would be established with Pakistan within their lifetime, an optimism shared by 64 percent Pakistanis.<br /><br />While vested interests on both sides may have led the people to believe that every Pakistani wakes up paranoid with India and that every Indian goes to bed fretting over the next deadly Pakistani move, statistics show otherwise. Half the people polled in India thought about Pakistan “sometimes”, while only 16 per cent thought about us in a more focused manner. As for Pakistanis, 32 per cent appeared to be seriously concerned over the state of our bilateral relations. Hardly the figures for two peoples supposedly obsessed with each other’s ultimate annihilation, would not you agree?Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-70980859573476647592009-12-21T09:05:41.971-08:002009-12-21T09:05:41.971-08:00anon: "I wonder if this is the same in Pakist...anon: "I wonder if this is the same in Pakistan."<br /><br />Paklistanis have their share of hyperpatriots, though probably not as numerous or vocal as in India. <br /><br />Irfan Hussain, a Dawn columnist and harsh critic of Pakistan, shared the following anecdote with his readers: <br /><br /> A foreign journalist working for a newsmagazine's South Asian bureau says he loves Pakistan because "In India, when you write a critical article, the people are furious with you. In Pakistan, when you write a critical article, everyone agrees with you."Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-7034276982981096602009-12-20T23:41:24.134-08:002009-12-20T23:41:24.134-08:00Unfortunately people like Shekhar Gupta, though t...Unfortunately people like Shekhar Gupta, though they may exist in large numbers in India, are generally out-shouted by the emotional types in the media.<br /><br />Obviously the people close to power will side with the noisy, over-emotional types who may (or may not) represent the thoughts of the intelligentsia, or even the people.<br /><br />I wonder if this is the same in Pakistan.<br /><br />An Indian readerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-73681317283808769282009-11-29T09:55:30.158-08:002009-11-29T09:55:30.158-08:00Here's a BBC report on Karkare's wife dema...Here's a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8366009.stm" rel="nofollow">BBC report</a> on Karkare's wife demanding inquiry of her husband's murder:<br /><br />The wife of a top police officer killed in the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) has demanded an inquiry into his death.<br /><br />Kavita Karkare said she had still not been told exactly how her husband died, a year after the attacks.<br /><br />Anti-terrorism chief Hemant Karkare was killed along with two senior police officers outside the Cama hospital.<br /><br />At least 174 people, including 14 policemen, died when 10 gunmen attacked sites in the city on 26 November 2008.<br /><br />One of the gunmen was caught alive and is currently on trial. Nine others were killed.<br /><br />Body armour questions<br /><br />Mrs Karkare told reporters: "So far no senior officer has told me what exactly happened that night."<br /><br />She said she had discovered her husband's bulletproof jacket was missing after she filed a freedom of information request two months ago.<br /><br />"I also came to know that the file which had the date of purchase is also missing."<br /><br />Mrs Karkare is demanding answers following media reports which have questioned the quality of bulletproof jackets used by the police.<br /><br />The wife of another officer killed alongside Mr Karkare has filed a similar "right to information (RTI)" request to see police records.<br /><br />Vinita Kamte said she needed the information to reconstruct the sequence of events which led to the death of her husband, Ashok, and other police officers.<br /><br />Mrs Kamte said she had received several records and was waiting for some more.<br /><br />"I am studying the records of calls made to the police control room. It is unfortunate that we have to apply to RTI to get information and speak to the media about it."<br /><br />'Trauma'<br /><br />Mrs Karkare said the policemen who died had been treated as martyrs. But she asked if candlelit marches and compensation were enough to forget what happened.<br /><br />Many relatives of policemen who lost their lives were undergoing psychiatric treatment to cope with the trauma, she added.<br /><br />Police commissioner D Sivanadhan told the BBC that an inquiry was being conducted and further details were awaited.<br /><br />An independent inquiry has already criticised the Mumbai police for a lack of co-ordination in dealing with the attacks.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-59322615041792309142009-11-28T16:29:14.281-08:002009-11-28T16:29:14.281-08:00"I believe Mushrif knows far more about the p..."I believe Mushrif knows far more about the power and machinations of India IB than you or I will ever know."<br /><br />--> If there are traitors in IB then they will be exposed sooner than later. But, please stop bringing down the IB to the level of ISI. IB doesnt spy on its own citizens and would never go against the govt's wishes. <br />I shudder to think what conspiracy theories you and your Urdu press would come up with if there was a BJP govt at the center! <br />You have accused the thoroughly-secular Congress and "Mr.Clean" Dr.Manmohan Singh of supporting terrorists. If BJP were in power I would assume there wouldn't have been much difference between the kind of garbage that comes out of your Urdu Press and your blog. And, forget about accepting Kasab is a Pakistani you guys would counter claimed that he is actually an Indian spy trying to pretend to be a Pakistani.<br />Or, you would say "Hindus" are the only ones capable of killing innocent people and RSS and VHP are responsible for Mumbai as they wanted to stage a coup and overthrow the secular govt and establish a Hindu Republic in order to murder innocent Muslims.<br />See how creative I can be and connect the dots that apparently hadn't existed before?<br />India can fool the world once or twice but not all the time and apparently Pakistanis are the only one who can see through the "hindu" mindset and realize that IB is really responsible for Karkare!<br />I can only appreciate the creativity and sheer imagination of your Urdu press "journalists" and even some nutcases in India.anoophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03953390714660751518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-41737401058545580882009-11-28T13:55:53.418-08:002009-11-28T13:55:53.418-08:00anoop:
I believe Mushrif knows far more about th...anoop: <br /><br />I believe Mushrif knows far more about the power and machinations of India IB than you or I will ever know.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-92116464382547062762009-11-28T12:03:08.793-08:002009-11-28T12:03:08.793-08:00"No, I did not suggest that anywhere. But wha..."No, I did not suggest that anywhere. But what Mushrif says stands. Mushrif believes that the extremist Sangh Parivar, with IB's help, took advantage of the opportunity created by Mumbai terror attacks to eliminate Karkare. Karkare's mysterious death, the appt of pliable Raguvanshi and the subsequent dismissal of some of the charges against Purohit support Mushrif's charges of collusion."<br /><br />--> Riaz, this is not Pakistan and the govt is not rightist one and we are not ruled by a non-secular constitution . You and that guy Mushriff are connecting dots that dont even exist! <br />Purohit is in Jail,where he belongs and not preaching large crowds like Hafiz Saeed is. Comparing the 2 cases we can safely say Purohit is not going to be free like the terrorist Hafiz Saeed is. <br />If Purohit comes out of Jail anytime like Hafiz Saeed has, I will concede that our position has weakened. <br />Karkara's death was not mysterious and its proven beyond doubt it was a Pakistani Islamic-terrorist who killed him. To suggest IB would coordinate with the very forces they are built to fight is preposterous. IB is not under the army like in Pakistan but under firm Civilian control and its cadres are picked from the military as well as the civilian services and are the best in the business and patriotic. They are not a force like the ISI which has supported Islamic parties to bring down ZAB in the past. Their record is clean and I nor the nation don't have any reason to doubt their sincerity or efficiency.<br />Besides, what are you trying to prove? That IB is like the ISI? <br />How come Pakistanis(I know Mushriff is an Indian) are usually the only ones to suggest such a preposterous ideas? <br />Its like complimenting us in a way. We are fooling the world all the time with respect to our activities in Afghnanistan, IB supporting terrorists, with regard to Kashmir,etc. I guess Pakistanis are too intelligent to be fooled and they see right through us! We have failed miserably... :-(<br />I am reminded of a saying which says, "you can fool some all of the time or you can fool all some of the time. But, you cant fool all all of the time."anoophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03953390714660751518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-32277780785546399212009-11-27T17:50:32.205-08:002009-11-27T17:50:32.205-08:00anoop: "So,you think India is responsible for...anoop: "So,you think India is responsible for Mumbai incident and covering up."<br /><br />No, I did not suggest that anywhere. But what Mushrif says stands. Mushrif believes that the extremist Sangh Parivar, with IB's help, took advantage of the opportunity created by Mumbai terror attacks to eliminate Karkare. Karkare's mysterious death, the appt of pliable Raguvanshi and the subsequent dismissal of some of the charges against Purohit support Mushrif's charges of collusion.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-2784985651579787832009-11-27T17:11:37.478-08:002009-11-27T17:11:37.478-08:00"Mushrif believes that the Indian IB is up to..."Mushrif believes that the Indian IB is up to its neck in conspiring with the Hindutva groups against Muslims and creating troule between India and Pakistan, and now one of the former IB leaders KC Verma is heading RAW as of early this year."<br /><br />---> So,you think India is responsible for Mumbai incident and covering up. If my fellow Indians hadn't died in that incident i'd have laughed it off. Ok lets say India is responsible and not Pakistan. Then,<br />1)why did Pakistan accept that conspirators from its soil?<br />2)Why did the UN security council banned JUD? Was India able to fool all the premier intelligence agencies in the world,including Pakistan's?<br />3)Who is Kasab? And,why did you TV channels went in search of his identity,story which brought Pakistani govt to its knees and were forced to accept he is a Pakistani?<br />4)Why is the world silent about this incident when it is so obvious for a middle aged guy sitting in front of a computer?<br />5)Is that guy who wrote the book a intelligence guy and I didnt know people in bureaucracy had this intimate knowledge about Intelligence matters? How does he know all this? He has some mighty intelligence knowledge!<br />6)Why on earth has the Pakistani govt banned a "charity" organization like JuD? Isn't it criminal to ban an organization that has done so much for Muslims?<br /><br />Riaz, suggesting India and Indians were responsible for Mumbai is like saying 9/11 was done by Isreal and Indian agents. You can even argue that America let it happen intentionally so that it can achieve its "strategic objectives".<br /><br />"You either don't understand the facts here, are you are choosing to deliberately dismiss the facts.<br /><br />--->WHAT FACTS?????? You are connecting dots that dont even exist!<br />I spoke about the newyorker video about paranoia in Pakistan. I had also mentioned about how increasingly Pakistan's elite,educated are believing non-nonsensical conspiracy theories. You,my friend,belong to that category. Its so sad that educated men like you believe in this crap. What is more alarming is there are many educated,privileged even secular minded Pakistanis who are like you. I'll give you the link again in the hope you will approve it. <br /> <br />http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/11/11/world/1247465633296/tuning-out-the-taliban.html<br /><br />I see a country suffering from deep paranoia and cant decide which side of the fence they live in. I see a country where yesteryear's friend's have become today's enemies. <br /><br />"It's routine in India to blame every thing on ISI and Pakistan where scant evidence exists. Take the case of Samjhota Express blast that killed a large number of Pakistanis was carried out by Purohit and the gang but blamed by India's IB on ISI."<br /><br />--> Dont forget its the sinister Indian intelligence and not any non-Indian institutions that broke the plot about Samjhota blasts and Melegaun. You guys didnt even accept that Kasab was a Pakistan until it was inevitable! See how effective and honest our agencies are? Pakistan also blindly accepted like us it was terrorists from their side just because its so easy to believe that as Pakistan has become in this decade the epicenter of Terror.<br />WE and our Intelligence agency headed by a Hindu revealed the Plot about those blasts.<br /><br />"The power establishment that really runs the affairs of this country "<br /><br />--> I've no words Riaz. Only a fellow Pakistani(sane one that is) can counter this argument. I being a voter know its not true and frankly,I dont need anyone else to believe that. But, if its THAT important for you to think India is actually run by its intelligence agencies to justify all the stupid,nonsensical things you keep talking about go ahead. This argument doesnt hurt me or my country in any way. So good luck with convincing people about this argument.<br />At this time I am reminded of words from the video where a Pakistani observer points out the sickness that is engulfing Pakistan in the form of Patriot-conservative-Islamist apologists..anoophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03953390714660751518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-69122072288243848712009-11-20T03:40:40.649-08:002009-11-20T03:40:40.649-08:00http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8367612.stm
...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8367612.stm<br /><br />Indian justice system is punishing those who attacked christians in orissa. Can the same be said about Pakistan when Ahmediyas and Shias, Christians and Hindus are killed.<br />In India there is no way a TV program will be shown asking for muslims to be killed. Watch Dr. Israr Ahmed's program where he advocates killing of Ahmediyas on account of being burtad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-64825980851464333202009-11-19T20:32:17.577-08:002009-11-19T20:32:17.577-08:00anon: "It seems India does a far better job i...anon: "It seems India does a far better job in convincing rest of the world , specially the west."<br /><br />I don't disagree.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-39644441455126246122009-11-19T17:05:07.099-08:002009-11-19T17:05:07.099-08:00"The key words here are "not seen foster..."The key words here are "not seen fostering extremists". That's exactly the kind of inside information Mushrif reveals in his timely book. By the time it's "seen" by ordinary folks in India and the world, it'll be tnoo late. "<br /><br />sure. whatever you say sir. It is your blog and you can write anything you want. Who am I do dispute it :-)<br /><br />"Meanwhile, the India IB folks will continue to protect the right-wing Hindu bombers and divert attention by blaming Indian Muslims and/or ISI."<br /><br />It seems India does a far better job in convincing rest of the world , specially the west. heck, Pak can't even convince its own people that India is behind attacks. What to talk about slap by Clinton or Holbroke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-81713742610948525032009-11-19T15:53:50.042-08:002009-11-19T15:53:50.042-08:00anon: "India is not seen fostering extremists...anon: "India is not seen fostering extremists the way Pak did since Zia's era and are now paying the price."<br /><br />The key words here are "not seen fostering extremists". That's exactly the kind of inside information Mushrif reveals in his timely book. By the time it's "seen" by ordinary folks in India and the world, it'll be tnoo late. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the India IB folks will continue to protect the right-wing Hindu bombers and divert attention by blaming Indian Muslims and/or ISI.Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-34789502631099340782009-11-19T14:28:33.682-08:002009-11-19T14:28:33.682-08:00"There is no question that Pakistan has a ter..."There is no question that Pakistan has a terrorism problem and it's dealing with it on a daily basis."<br /><br />the world does not care if bombs go off in Pak due to their own people. that is for pak to deal with. The world is concerned with Pak doing it to others, most notably India.<br /><br />" But does that mean that the problems that Mushrif points to do not exist in India? Aren't a number of serving, not just retired, Indian Army officers as well as IB officials implicated by Mushrif? Haven't there been bomb blasts involving Indian right-wing Hindu groups in India, the most recent one on Diwali eve in Goa?"<br /><br />There is nothing to indicate that what Mushrif has claimed in his book is even 25% true, let alone 100%. <br /><br />India's right wing group is still a fringe and is not an issue to even india, what to talk about other countries. Despite your exaggerations (based on muslim Mushrif's blabber), India is not seen fostering extremists the way Pak did since Zia's era and are now paying the price.<br /><br />Also you can stop quoting self on Pak's so called allegation against india for the current turmoil. Let NYT etc talk about it first. Yesterday Gilani claimed that proof will be provided at 'suitable' time. Your grandson will be waiting for that suitable time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848640164815342479.post-4889205185822656702009-11-19T13:56:51.204-08:002009-11-19T13:56:51.204-08:00Anon: "Another Paki army officer arrested for...Anon: "Another Paki army officer arrested for international terrorism. Of course you can say NYT is a biased paper and only S M Mushrif has monopoly over the truth."<br /><br />There is no question that Pakistan has a terrorism problem and it's dealing with it on a daily basis. But does that mean that the problems that Mushrif points to do not exist in India? Aren't a number of serving, not just retired, Indian Army officers as well as IB officials implicated by Mushrif? Haven't there been bomb blasts involving Indian right-wing Hindu groups in India, the most recent one on Diwali eve in Goa?Riaz Haqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00522781692886598586noreply@blogger.com